A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 716 The Three Ironclad Principles of Men...

"Are you talking about that person?" Yang Youning finally recovered from his initial shock, his eyes greedily scanning the familiar-looking carriage.

Looking at the arrangement of this carriage evoked his deepest memories.

Compared to the luxurious carriage in front, this carriage appears much simpler.

The carriage walls were not made of cold steel plates, but were covered entirely with dark reddish-brown mahogany panels. At intervals along the panels, a wall lamp with a brass base and a stiff cloth shade was fixed in place; it was not lit at the moment.

But Yang Youning saw a scene from his memory, as if it were radiating a warm yellow glow.

The carriage windows were wide and draped with double-layered curtains. The outer layer was a light, thin white gauze, now gathered up and tied with a simple cloth ribbon; the inner layer was a thick, beige coarse cloth curtain. Sunlight streamed softly into the carriage through the clean double-glazed windows and white gauze curtains, casting dappled shadows on the mahogany floor.

At the front of the carriage, the most eye-catching feature is a solitary rattan armchair. The rattan, polished and yellowed by time and countless touches, possesses a warm, jade-like luster.

A neatly folded, faded gray fleece blanket was casually draped over the chair. On the floor in front of the chair sat a dark wooden footstool with brass corners, also polished to a shine.

The carriage wasn't particularly spacious, but the layout was simple and airy. Besides the rattan chair, there were two dark hardwood benches with backs against the wall in the middle of the carriage, covered with plain cotton and linen cushions.

In the middle of the bench was a small square table of the same material, with a smooth tabletop. On it were only a white porcelain teapot and several upside-down teacups of the same style, simple and without any superfluous decoration.

Nothing has changed, really nothing has changed!

Yang Youning's mind, ravaged by war and now somewhat diminished, finally connected the scene before him with the hidden fragments, and his voice trembled with excitement:

“I…I also took a picture here! Right behind this wicker chair! I…I remember what he said!”

"You?" Old Wang and Company Commander Tang exchanged a glance. Company Commander Tang frowned slightly, his expression scrutinizing. "When did you get on this vehicle?"

"Hehe, a few years ago. My uncle even prepared a copy of the Xuzhou Gazetteer for the elderly to read, but after others looked at it, they said that my uncle had prepared one less copy..." Yang Youning's eyes lit up as he reminisced.

"Goodness! Such a thick stack of books! How could you tell which one was missing at a glance if you hadn't put in the effort before?"

"That's true... He really has a lot of books. A couple of days ago, the weather was nice, and before we went on a mission, we even brought the books out of his study to air them out!" As he said this, a hint of admiration flashed in Company Commander Tang's eyes.

Yang Youning became more and more excited as he spoke. He offered a round of cigarettes and then plopped down on the long hardwood bench next to him, staring intently at the rattan chair, his gaze greedily tracing every line of the rattan, as if trying to etch it into his very bones.

“Back then, I even accompanied him to climb Yunlong Mountain. That guy who ‘draws a gun at the sight of his uncle’ tried to help him for a part of the way. But others said, ‘I don’t need your help! I’ll rely on myself!’”

"Hahahaha..." Old Wang and Company Commander Tang couldn't help but laugh, saying in unison, "That's right! That's right! That's exactly his personality!"

Three men, veterans of war, sat side by side on a hard wooden bench. One patted the other's shoulder, the other patted the other's arm, and their eyes were simultaneously fixed on the rattan chair. A silent understanding flowed between them.

"Hey... is the food cart still hanging at the back?" Yang Youning suddenly remembered something, his eyes brightening even more. "I even had a meal on the mountain the day we climbed it!"

"Oh... I remember now. The armored corps remembered that he went to the headquarters for dinner..." Old Wang confirmed this.

“Yes! The old man waved his hand and said, ‘No need to bother! I’ll treat everyone to dinner on the train!’” Yang Youning interrupted, mimicking the tone of the conversation, with a hint of superiority from being involved in the event.

"That's right! That's right! Do you remember what dishes were served?"

"Braised fish! Stir-fried chicken! Stir-fried chili peppers, and stir-fried greens!" Yang Youning smacked his lips. "Oh, and a bottle of wine for each table!"

"Ha! That's right!" Old Wang clapped his hands. "I didn't know you had this experience, Old Yang! I was crammed into the hard-seat carriages back then..."

"No wonder you're so good at operating an excavator, you've been training all along!" Old Wang joked.

"Hehe. I haven't really trained, otherwise I wouldn't have been taken down so easily!" Yang Youning scratched his head sheepishly, his left hand habitually touching the scar on the side of his head where a piece of his skull was missing.

"Wait...we didn't have any tanks back then, huh...you're the guy who captured enemy tanks on the battlefield, turned the turrets around, and took down three of them in one go, right?" Company Commander Tang looked at the stunned guy in front of him and suddenly realized.

"Tieyuan Southeast... that Pershing that fell into the ditch... was it you who did it?!"

Then, Company Commander Tang pulled Yang Youning close and examined him closely. "Hey! I didn't realize you were so lucky! You survived being targeted by multiple enemy fire!"

"Hehehe, I guess I'm just lucky!"

"I was completely stunned back then, I guess I got lucky because of my family elders. My brains were all splattered out, and I was sent to the rear. When I came back, Company Commander Tang, you should still be here..." Yang Youning took off his hat and pointed to the scar on his head.

"Still sniping in Tieyuan! It's a pity I was on a mission and didn't get a chance to take a stroll around Hills 597.9 and 537.7!"

Company Commander Tang spoke with a hint of regret, then pulled a gleaming steel lighter from his pocket and shoved it into Yang Youning's hand: "Keep it. This damn thing cost me a second-class merit..."

"Hey, what's going on?" Yang Youning asked curiously as he lit a cigarette for his comrade.

"They probably didn't take any prisoners again! It's the same old problem! Hahaha..." Old Wang blew out a smoke ring, pointed at Company Commander Tang, and laughed loudly.

……

Alright, let's leave aside the three tough guys reminiscing about their glorious past. On the other hand, our silly kid finally got through to Dr. Lan Ying on the phone.

"Aunt Lanying, how did it go? Did the photolithography work successfully?"

It sounded noisy on the other end of the phone, as if there were many voices.

"Hey, busy man, do you even remember you're the chief engineer for this project? How come you didn't come on such an important day..."

Before Jiang Xia could say anything more, Dr. Lan Ying continued, rattling off: "The lithography machine... the main assembly has just been completed! The last few key lenses and positioning platform have been debugged. The comrades are working with the experienced technicians from your factory to do the final system integration and cleaning, preparing for the first lithography test!"

"Great! What do you plan to etch for the first test? What's the target line width?"

“The initial goal is very realistic.” Lan Ying’s voice came clearly. “Use our own chromium plate mask to etch the simplest parallel lines. The target line width… should be within 15 micrometers (mm).

The light source used is a high-pressure mercury lamp, G-line (436nm), and the exposure time is still being determined. The photoresist used is a positive photoresist that the institute's chemistry group has just developed; the effect is not yet stable, and the developer formula is also being optimized..."

"Hey, stop carving parallel lines. Did you get the calculator circuit diagram I sent? Why don't you try it out? Try making the hardware multiplier out there!"

"By the way, how is Big Yellow's clone performing after being equipped with the 'cheat code'?"

"Try my ass! Masks aren't that easy to engrave! The people from Yunnan and Guizhou used high-powered magnifying glasses to get this pattern. Do you think it's a primary school student drawing a bobblehead?" Dr. Lan Ying was so excited that she almost spat out her saliva from the microphone.

"Tsk tsk, Aunt Lanying. I've sent you a micro-carving master; you'll have to make use of him!"

"Huh? A micro-sculpture master? Aren't those people supposed to carve ivory? Can they even carve something on a chrome plate?"

Oh, Dr. Lan Ying, you've made a mistake here!

Don't look down on those who inherit our ancestors' skills!

Others can carve boats from peach pits!